Elysian Brewing's "Loser" Pale Ale @ 7.0% served cold from a 650 ml bottleA-pours a dark golden/amber , bit hazy , with a thin white head , very little retention or lacing along the steinS-citrus hops , herbal medicineT-a spicy hoppy grapefruit start followed by a boozy whallop in the middle , the finish is dry with a slight tangy bitterness lingering on my palateMF-medium carbonation , the ABV at 7.0% is definately not a corporate beer , but the overall bitterness is to high for meOv-glad I got to try one , but for me a one and done beer review/tasting , way to bitter

Pours a coppery golden colour, with no visible hazing. Body is light, with streaming carbonation forming in patches. Head is white and filmy, with a fine ring leaving inconsistent lace. Not bad, but not that exciting overall.

Nose is pleasant and oddly savoury. Some light crisp lemon is forwards, along with crushed celery and leaves. It's slightly vegetative and bright. Nice stuff.

Clean light entry on the palate with a touch of lemon. Bright but empty palate gives a refreshing aspect, but adds only minimal interest. Finish has a clean bitterness which underlines this. It's soft all over, and in real terms, a little dull. But it really does work.

Overall, yeah, it's not bad. It has a smoothness, a lightness, and it's really very drinkable. I've seen Sorachi Ace put to better use though—here it's extremely subtle. (878 characters)

A real nice amber hue from light brown chestnut at the top to red and then orange at the bottom. Opaque. Head forms slowly makes barely two figners and is off white with a uniform appearance, and some creamy faint lacing.

Biscuity malt and chewy cookie sweetness on the nose. Faint hop action, but some sweet alcohol like rush also. Not bad quite inviting, hints at English Bitter...

Taste seems to be a simple malt graham and milk sweetness. Sugar sweet with a faint pine like hop in aftertaste. Good solid thick body with out a lot of syrup. Some nice herbal tea like hop tastes as well.

Overall kind of basic, reminds me more of an English bitter than anything, but easily drinkable even at 7%. Would have again. (767 characters)

The loser pours a deep amber color with a solid 2 finger plus head. Good head retention with nice web lacing.

The smell is sweet and fruity. Tastes lemony and real spicy. Good residual sugar in this one. Tastes more like an IPA to me at 7.0ABV and with a large hop presence to it. It is only 57 ibu but comes across strong. Good mouthfeel to the beer as the hops stick to the tongue.

Overall a good beer from a brewery I should visit next time in Seattle. (457 characters)

Poured from a 650ml bottle. This was originally brewed a few years ago to celebrate Sub Pop's 20th anniversary, but it's stuck around as a regular offering.

Pours a hazy copper orange with adequate ivory coloured foam. Smells like a dream, with ample piney-fruity hop notes and some sweet malt notes as well. Taste follows suit, though the rich malt notes come through a little more than the plentiful aromatic hops. The higher ABV lends it a pleasant booziness that's unusual for a pale ale. Call this an Imperial Pale Ale, perhaps? Whatever you want to call it, it's easy to drink and nicely balanced. (605 characters)

Well-hazed and well-carbonated burnt orange beer with a a solid crown of bone-white head. Two inches worth, and it's not falling for anyone or anything. Cascading bubbles are in effect, but they have to dodge suspended sediment to get to the surface. Got to hand it to them, boy, Elysian is known for floaties!

Very similar to Alpha King in the taste. A little more tropicalia to the fruits in the hop flavor. Firmly bitter with a generous dose of toast from the malts (but, perhaps, a little paler than Alpha King in that regard). Cherimoya, nectarine, and lime all from the hops. Very nice! Beastly too, with an alcohol bite that is perfectly stated for 7% ABV!

Every sip has a little foam in it 'cause that head never leaves! Nice balance of sop, hop, and whop. Great consistency to the body. Drinks easier than Alpha King!

Killer brew, and totally unexpected! Best thing I've ever had from these guys (seeing as I poorly rated their IPA series). My surprise beer of the night! (1,406 characters)

Pours a nice hazy orange with a broken sheet of light almond foam. Nose carries citrus: oranges and lemons; with a subdued dose of light and crispy malts but under the heaviness of a good dose of crystal. Flavor is dry and crisp with good ESB maltiness and a bitten finish followed by a slight sweetness. Medium on full bodied with reserved carb and some thick finish. Nice beer, really easy to drink and a crowd pleasing SOB. (440 characters)

Appearance: pale orange hue with a light haze and a light effervescence. Head is a thick finger of frothy ivory foam. Quite good looking.

Smell: very good aroma with fruity, citrusy hops with a light funk undercurrent. "Floral tangerine" comes to mind to describe this smell. A lightly bready malt is also present underneath; overall, quite good.

Taste: more of that tangerine comes through in the flavor with a moderate and balanced bitterness toward the end. Malt character is a bit dry and bready, but I find that works well with this hop combination.

Mouthfeel: medium-light body with a low level of carbonation. There is a light creaminess to the body, but I think I would prefer at least a little more carbonation.

Overall: an enticing aroma and satisfying flavor of tropical, citrusy hops will keep me coming back for more. (878 characters)

This beer is a nice hazy burnt orange topped with a two-finger frothy head. It is retained quite well. It smells amazing, with resinous hops, grapefruit, sweet citrus, and malts. The flavor is a subtle balance of hops and malt flavors. It has this very soft, plush mouth feel. The finish is dry with a slight tangy bitterness. Overall quite a good beer. I expected it to be a bit bolder by the aroma but actually the softness is welcome - my palate is currently 'spent' on big beers today. I also think my bottle has 'rested' a the store a while due to a different label than pictured - this probably mellowed the hop profile a bit. (632 characters)

Tastes of sweet malt, caramel, piney hops, citrus hops, grapefruit, orange peel, lemon, brown sugar, light coriander, herbs, floral hops, light grains and faint pepper; a pretty sweet pale ale that's very well balanced, with the sweet malt leaving a buttery coating and then giving way to a citrus hop light bitterness. The hops give off a little spice and blend well with the malt for an easy drinking beer.

Mouthfeel is light, creamy and fizzy, with a medium body, very light carbonation and a light bitter finish.

Highly drinkable, this was a very tasty pale ale that I would definitely have again. This was a session bomber that I’m glad I didn’t share. Overall it was very good and worthy of seeking out. The label is right, Corporate Beer Still Sucks. A solid beer with a rock edge for a good cause. (1,217 characters)

On the smell I get a lot of thick rich toffee malts with a lemony, herbal hop in the back. Very smooth and the rich toffee malts dominate mostly the whole taste up until the very end where the lemony herbal hop comes in with taste and bitterness. Its very floral tasting as well.

The malt taste reminds me very much of how Rogue's Dead Guy Ale malt tastes. Its very similar. I actually like this beer better because of the Sorachi Ace hops which give it a unique twist on the flavor that I normally don't ever smell or taste in beers.

I also like this beer a lot because the whole "grunge rock" scene is probably one of my favorite music movements to ever happen. I love the fact that Sub Pop collaborated with a brewery and put Nirvana as the forefront band of this beer. Hence the "Corporate beer still sucks" as a play on of the t shirt Kurt Cobain wore on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine that said "Corporate magazines still suck"

The malt really tries to win the battle here with the hops because of how rich and noticeable the malt taste is...but because of those Sorachi Ace hops it really adds a tropical fruity lemon herbal note to it that like I said...I'm not used to tasting in a beer. Very cool beer and Elysian has quickly become my favorite go to Seattle brewery. (1,287 characters)

S: dust, grass, perhaps a touch of vegetal and piney american hops, but faded. there is a slight lemonyness that lingers on the breath afterwards - probably the sorachi.

T: slight diacetyl, then sharp and lingering hop bitterness. grapefruit rind and citrus dominate, with a spark of biscuit like malt sweetness.

M: medium bodied. lingering bitterness makes this seem thicker than it is. there is a minerally feeling left on the tongue.

O: rather meh apa. sorachi hops intrigued me, but I couldn't pull much from it. there's a harsh and umpleasant bitterness - i'm hoping it's from a freshness issue, and not the terrible choice of crystal hops. (722 characters)

A - This beer pours a nice clear copper color. It has a big fluffy 2-finger off-white head on it. The head has pretty good retention, and it leaves behind a nice sheet of lacing on the glass.

S - Smells of sweet bready malts and caramel. I am getting some fruit notes and some mild piney hop presence. I smells a bit syrupy to me actually.

T - Taste starts off with some bready malt and caramel flavor. There is a moderate pine hop presence that lends some bitterness, but not much. Also, there is some fruitiness and a bit of citrus. The finish is pretty clean' leaving just a little bit of lingering hops and citrus.

M - This has a medium body and average carbonation. It goes down pretty easy and has a smooth feel to it. There is a bit of a chewy quality to it.

O - This has alright drinkability. It goes down fairly easy, but it just was a little thick feeling for me. Also, I would have liked to see more hop bitterness. There was a little, but it didn't stick around for very long. It was decent, but I probably wouldn't spend money on it again. (1,057 characters)

Hazy dark amber with orange highlights, tight off white head, good retention and lacing. Crisp sweet floral aroma. Balanced with a great malt profile of caramel, toffee, and notes of earthy hops. Clean, crisp taste and finish with a very light hop linger. Smooth with a light bite but fairly heavy.

Very interesting malt qualities make an easy drinking, full flavored beer. The flavor melds away slightly toward the bottom of a 22 but taking your time keeps it full throughout the bottle. It’s unusually heavy for a pale ale but I think that’s what comes with the malt profile. It’s not completely distracting and makes for a nice sipping pale ale instead of a refreshing outdoor beer. (692 characters)

Appearance is an orange amber with a thin but still head leaving spotty lace. Aroma of rich bready malt that makes up the backbone, orange note with citric hops. Taste again has that big malt backbone with just right amount of hops to keep it interesting, leaving a light dry finish. Mouthfeel is medium with good carbonation. A good malt ale without being heavy and easy to drink. (381 characters)

A - Cloudy, deep orange copper. Frothy one finger head dwindles down to an eighth of inch. Lacing has already begun upon settling into tulip.

S - Buttery toffee. Savory caramel. Bready

T - Bread & butter.

M - Smooth, creamy, medium body, rounded.

O - The diacetyl is very heavy in this beer. As it opens up and comes to room temp further, the more the diacetyl becomes present. It's fairly disappointing, Im wondering if this beer was possibly just a bad one out of the batch. I will rate this as is, and hope to either try it again in a 22oz soon or try it when I visit Elysian this winter. (639 characters)

picked up a growler of this at the orchard park consumers. fridge temp poured into a bulb style glass.

pours a cloudy reddish amber with a huge billowy, slightly off white head. great retention with a little lace.

in the aroma, lots of biscuit and a little caramel balanced by tropical fruity hops and a light dry citrus.

the taste follows the aroma almost identically. a really unique deelicious biscuit flavor from the malt while still having a nice hop presence.

a little dry on the palate in the finish, slightly heavier side of medium bodied.

overall: a solid pale ale, almost an IPA. i really enjoyed the flavors from the malt, and as a homebrewer, its nice to see the use of some ingredients new to the market, crystal, sorachi ace hops, and carahell malts. id drink this again. (791 characters)